Using A Road Map to Become a Better Leader

As a leader, you know how important goals are. You probably review, revise, and renew your company’s goals every six months, but how often have you reviewed your personal goals? And when you do review those goals, how many times have you made a goal to increase or decrease your association with certain kinds of people?

One thing is certain. If you don’t have a road map of where to go, you can’t get there. One of the first steps in any journey is to determine where you want to go, and then make a plan of how to get there. Otherwise you end up haphazardly moving through life and usually disappointed at your journey.

With a new year beginning, it is your opportunity to review your life and to determine if you like where you are. If you do, make new plans to continue growing. If you don’t, make new plans to change your path.

THE CONTAMINATION FILE

I recently listened to a millionaire who talked about goal setting. He said one of the things he reviewed at the end of each year were the people in his life. He made two categories. One of them he labeled people who complimented him, and the other one was people who contaminated him. He then listed all the people who were in his life including friends, family, team members, and clients. He marked a black line through the people under the contamination file, determining he was no longer going to spend time with them.

This might seem like a harsh act. After all, you might have been taught you were supposed to be compassionate, understanding, and empathetic. You might think you should spend time helping other people, and you should. There is a line though. You can’t help people who are not ready to be helped. They are using your valuable time, resources, and talents, which means you are giving them something they don’t appreciate, and by giving them you, somebody else is being denied your talents.

These same people are the ones who contaminate you. They take and take and all they give back is their negative energy. You become who you associate with most of the time. In order to become the person you desire, spend time with those who can lift you up, who can share joy, dreams, and love.

MOVING FORWARD AS YOU MOVE OTHERS FORWARD

Have you been draining your energy on somebody who does not appreciate you? Now is the time to determine that person needs to move on. In fact, when you do this, you are providing a service for them. You are giving them the opportunity to wake up and to change. Sometimes it takes a powerful message for somebody to change.

I know this. I grew more when people determined I should no longer be a part of their lives. This forced me to examine my life. If I could have continued living my life as a victim with somebody saving me all the time, I never would have had the need to change.

Now is the time to determine what people in your life are complimenting you or contaminating you. When you write your goals for the next year, move closer to those people who want to move forward and want you to grow. Move away from those people who would rather stay in misery.